South Korea's tablet shipments have been dropping after reaching a peak in 2011 due to the rapid appearance of large-size smartphones and phablets, which are gradually replacing consumer demand for tablets in Korea.

Samsung Electronics has already caught up with Apple in Korea's tablet market with a share of 45%, higher than the US-based vendor's 44.3%; however, compared to Samsung's share in Korea's smartphone market at around 55-60%, its performance in the tablet market is still rather weak.

Observing consumers in Korea's tablet purchasing and usage habits, Digitimes Research found that the priority when purchasing a tablet is convenience, followed by industrial design. As for usage, most Korea consumers purchase a tablet for convenience when searching for information, and entertainment.

As large-size smartphones and phablets continue to take demand away, Digitimes Research believes South Korea's tablet market is unlikely to see any improvements in the future unless a killer tablet appears.

In 2018, global server shipments will grow 8.5% to reach 13.73 million units. Digitimes Research estimates server shipments worldwide will grow at a CAGR of 6.5% during the period 2017-2022, with growth mainly driven by large-scale data centers and the China market.

Digitimes Research estimates total shipments of smartphone APs worldwide will grow 1.5% on year to 1.67 billion units in 2018. The slowing growth in the smartphone market means global smartphone AP shipments will only grow at a mild pace in the next few years, reaching 1.77 billion units in 2021.